


have fun (and be careful)

by lovelyflowersinherhair



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 00:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20183461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyflowersinherhair/pseuds/lovelyflowersinherhair
Summary: “Richard,” Maureen said, her tone guarded, and she gazed up at him beneath the sunglasses that were perched on the bridge of her nose. “Thank you for agreeing to let us impose upon you. Under these circumstances…” She trailed off, before clearing her throat. “Well, it’s important for the girls to provide comfort.”





	have fun (and be careful)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertVixen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/gifts).

> Hi desertvixen! This is my first time writing Maureen/Richard. I played somewhat with canon-timelines to get it to make sense. I hope you like it.

If Richard were to be honest with himself, he had not a clue what he had gotten into when he had agreed to allow Stacey McGill and her mother stay with him in the event of Mimi’s passing, but agreed he had, and he prided himself on being a man of his word. Mimi had had a steady decline throughout the girls’ eighth grade year, and he had been stunned when she had been well enough to attend the girls’ eighth grade graduation ceremony, but she had managed to be an active participate. With the pomp and circumstance over, the matriarch of the family across the street had started a decline that had shocked even Richard with its speed. When Rioko had asked him if he wouldn’t mind hosting Stacey and Maureen McGill during the services, Richard had agreed. 

New York was close by, but if Stacey wanted to come to Stoneybrook and spend the night closer to Claudia, who was he to judge? Though he had originally worried about allowing Mary Anne to be involved in the Club, he had to admit that the members were good children, and much better friends than he would have been at his age. 

Richard prided himself in being a gentleman, so he volunteered to pick the McGills up from the train station when the inevitable occurred, and Mimi had passed away, though he had anticipated Mary Anne accompanying him to the train station as well. Claudia had taken the news badly, however, and the girls had congregated at the Kishi household in an attempt to comfort her, and he had decided that it would be an acceptable excuse for Mary Anne not greeting Stacey upon arrival. Especially once Kristy had gotten it in her head that Charlie and that  _ hideous _ vehicle that he drove her around town in would be wholly acceptable to transport the entirety of the club along with them. There weren’t even enough seatbelts in the Junk Bucket. Nor was Richard going to subject the commuters to a group of teenagers. It was uncouth. And unneeded, given that soon enough Stacey would be reunited with her friends, and he and Maureen, well...Richard didn’t know what they would do. He would find something.

The McGill women stood out in a crowd. Stacey was mature for her age, but it was clear to Richard that she had gotten her beauty from her mother, not that Richard was planning on admitting to Maureen McGill that he found her to be physically attractive. She was still married, after all, and Richard had written dating off yet again after the debacle that had been his relationship with Sharon. Things had been going so well until they weren’t. Jeff had moved back to California, and then Dawn had wanted to go, and what could Richard have done? Stand in her way? It was better for her to be with her kids. In the same state as them. So she wouldn’t be paying an obscene amount in child support for the sake of their fledging romance. 

Richard knew better. He had known better, even going into the relationship, but it had seemed like a good thing to at least try. The girls had wanted them to date, Sharon was a safe option. He had loved her once upon a time. He was sure that he could love her once again. But it hadn’t been meant to be. 

He shook his head. There was no use dwelling on old wounds, he reminded himself, as he climbed out of the car and approached the twosome. 

“Mr. Spier,” Stacey said, her tone as bright as the cherry-red coat she sported. “Mom, you remember Mary Anne’s dad?” 

“Richard,” Maureen said, her tone guarded, and she gazed up at him beneath the sunglasses that were perched on the bridge of her nose. “Thank you for agreeing to let us impose upon you. Under these circumstances…” She trailed off, before clearing her throat. “Well, it’s important for the girls to provide comfort.” 

Richard had to agree. “I was thinking that we would drop Stacey off at the Kishis’,” he told Maureen, as he took their daybags from them and carried them in the direction of the car, motioning for the women to follow him. “And then I thought perhaps I would treat you to dinner? It’s probably been a long day for you.” 

“That would be nice,” she said after a moment. “Yes...it’s been a long day.” 

* * *

“...have fun, and be careful,” Maureen called from the Spiers’ porch, and Stacey barely gave her a nod of acknowledgement. She bit back a sigh. “Anastasia!”

“What, Mom?” Stacey called. There was a distinct edge to her tone. Maureen could practically hear the eyeroll. “Going to explain why you’ve been running up the charge at Tiffany?” 

“You have  _ no idea _ what you’re talking about,” Maureen began to rail, before she recovered herself, realizing that she was in Stoneybrook Connecticut and not in their New York City apartment. She shook her head. “I just wanted to remind you to make good choices, sweetie. And don’t forget to take your insulin.” 

Stacey actually did roll her eyes in response. “I don’t forget, Mom. Why don’t you enjoy your dinner with Mr. Spier, and I’ll worry about myself?”

“I--”

“Seriously, Mom,” Stacey said. “Like you said. Today is about Claudia. I don’t think we should be fighting.” And with that, Maureen watched as Stacey flung open the Kishis’ front door and strode purposefully inside, clearly not giving her mother another thought. 

Stacey had taken the fact that Ed and Maureen were getting a divorce with a distinct lack of aplomb, even though the sole thing that they had agreed on when they had discussed the fact that they were going to dissolve their marriage was the fact that things had deteriorated so dramatically that Stacey (and all of their neighbors) had had to see the divorce coming a mile away. She had not expected Stacey’s silent treatment to have extended for the greater part of the week, but it had. She was only spoken to when it was necessary. Stacey had even spent most of the week at Laine’s apartment. Maureen was certain she had only deigned to accompany her for Claudia’s sake. She was perfectly aware that Ed had refused to take off work for the funeral. 

When it was clear that Stacey wasn’t going to emerge from the house across the way, Maureen shut Richard’s front door, seething silently. Stacey had spent the entire time they were back in New York complaining about how she missed Stoneybrook and had not wanted to move. Now that she was being afforded the chance to live there again, she was being a brat? Maureen thought that it was more than fair for Stacey to spend the summers with her father, and every other weekend, while living in a place that Maureen had a snowball’s chance in hell to afford. Even better that it came with people that Stacey knew, and wanted to be around. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Richard asked. “I couldn’t help but notice…”

Maureen sighed. “Ed and I are getting a divorce. She’s not taking it well.” 

“Mary Anne is mad at me, too,” he informed her. “She’s upset that Sharon and I broke up.”

She arched a brow. “When did that happen?” 

Richard chuckled, though she could hear the nervousness in his tone. “Why don’t we discuss this over that dinner I promised you? I was thinking, Chez Maurice?” 

“I’ve actually never been,” Maureen admitted. “I’d love to experience it.” 

There was nothing wrong with two friends going out together to get something to eat, she reminded herself. There was nothing at all untoward about dinner with Richard. They were just friends, and even that was stretching the definition of the word. Maureen would probably deem them to be acquaintances. 

It was good for her to have a social network in Stoneybrook. Especially with Stacey’s medical needs. If Stacey balked at them having gone out to dinner, she would tell her just that. Not that it was either girls’ business. 

“It’s not as fancy as anything in New York,” Richard said, and there was a hint of warning in his tone. “I don’t want you to be setting yourself up for a bout of disappointment.” 

“I’ve done all of that,” she said. “New York...it’s old hat. I’d rather go out to dinner with someone who might actually appreciate me.” 

“You don’t think Ed appreciates you?” Richard asked. 

“He doesn’t understand how hard it is to manage Stacey’s condition,” Maureen said. “He thinks that all I do is run up bills when I go on wild shopping sprees, that I should just drop everything and get a job. Stacey is a brittle diabetic. Her disease is barely under control. I  _ can’t _ work. Not if he’s going to be absolutely  _ unreachable _ in the case of an emergency. Not in New York. I could work here, if I had to,” she said. “The town is the size of a postage stamp.” 

“I understand,” he said. “It’s not the same, I know, but when Alma died...everything changed. Mary Anne became my priority. I had to reassess everything that I had thought was important.” He sighed. “I didn’t understand why Sharon was willing to let Dawn and Jeff move back to California while she stayed here,” he admitted. “Not the least because she in no way could afford the cost of the child support she would have been saddled with when temporary arrangements turned permanent. When she said she wanted to stay because of what we had, I broke it off with her.” He sighed. Maureen watched him smooth out his hair. “I don’t want to be the cause of a family being broken apart.” 

“I know,” she said, her tone quiet. “I take it Mary Anne was upset.” 

“She thought that if Sharon stayed, Dawn would want to move back,” he said. “We were only dating. Mary Anne thought it was some gigantic love affair.” 

“Stacey seems to think that if I stop shopping at Tiffany, her father will love me again,” Maureen offered. “They’re teenagers. Their brains are still growing.” 

“I barely remember being a teenager,” he admitted. 

“I know,” she said. “It’s a tribute to us that the kids are mostly all right.” 

* * *

  
“I can’t figure out which one of them is worse,” Stacety said with a sigh, as she sprawled on the foot of Mary Anne’s bed, a bottle of nail polish in her hand. “I swear I heard your father say have fun and be careful the other day.” 

Mary Anne let out a giggle. “What’s wrong with that? It’s awfully liberal for Dad, I’ll have you know.” 

“There’s nothing  _ wrong _ with it,” she said, her tone hedging. A smirk graced her lips. “Except that he said it to Mr. and Mrs. Pike when they were having a moment...alone in their backyard.” 

Mary Anne’s face had turned a bright red. “Stacey!”

“What?” 

“That’s not funny,” she insisted. “How am I supposed to look the Pikes in the eye again?” 

Stacey giggled. “Richard definitely isn’t capable of it.” 

Mary Anne sighed. “What color did you pick for me today?” It was clear to Stacey she was desperate for a subject change. 

“I thought we’d go for a red today,” she said. “Are you a waitress, it’s called. It’s top of the line. Just released.” 

“Okay,” she said, as she plunked her feet on Stacey’s lap. “Just on my toes.”


End file.
